I'm still having a hard time beliving that our kids are (almost) two. :

Saturday I tried to help BooBah get dressed-- this is a *big* nono, you'd think I'd know it by now, but I keep trying to help her. She finally stepped back away from me and said, "I do it by mysewf. You watch!" and then pulled her dress over her head and her bloomers up. Then she stood up rather haughtily and said, "I put my dress on backwards," for all the world like she had intended to do it that way, and did we dare say a word about it? Part of me wanted to laugh, but mostly I was in shock. She was just so funny about it all. A few minutes later she said, "I will fix my dress," and she stood up and did it, but it had to be on her own terms. God forbid anyone interferes! She's a total riot.

I'm still having a hard time beliving that our kids are (almost) two. :

Saturday I tried to help BooBah get dressed-- this is a *big* nono, you'd think I'd know it by now, but I keep trying to help her. She finally stepped back away from me and said, "I do it by mysewf. You watch!" and then pulled her dress over her head and her bloomers up. Then she stood up rather haughtily and said, "I put my dress on backwards," for all the world like she had intended to do it that way, and did we dare say a word about it? Part of me wanted to laugh, but mostly I was in shock. She was just so funny about it all. A few minutes later she said, "I will fix my dress," and she stood up and did it, but it had to be on her own terms. God forbid anyone interferes! She's a total riot.

BooBah & Lily are very similar little people. Her favorite phrase is "ME DO SELF!" God forbid anyone try and help that child or get in her way when she has plans. Her new trick is taking her diaper off when it's poopy. The problem is... she doesn't tell us she's doing it. She'll quietly go upstairs into her room and do it. Friday dh found her w/ her diaper off and poop all over the floor. Man I hope she decides to use the potty full time SOON!

Thanks for the birthday wishes! We had a long day as we had to take our car in to be repaired this morning, but I think she had a good birthday anyway. We took her to the zoo in the afternoon.

R's big bid for independence is not wanting to ride in the stroller ever, or any form of carrier. She will ask to be carried when she's overdone it, but lose her marbles when I try to shift her into anything at all that doesn't kill my back.

Oooohhhh, I just accidentally deleted my post! : I sold my PA property in three days, but it will of course take a few weeks to get the money, and I am still working nonstop on this house, and we should be going to contract on the new house soon, and I have nothing interesting to say. Here is my current house! http://www.expertrealty.com/HomeDeta...ListingId=9910 It is very strange to have pictures of my house on the web!

Reading Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning! And I am thinking of moving his crib back to a crib position in the room, and ending the side-carred arrangement. This way when he wakes I will of necessity be out of the bed, and cannot fall into the trap of nursing in bed, for hours of intermittent clutching and shrieking as I try to escape, or interrupted dozing. When nursing in bed works, it's lovely, but when the time has passed, it's awful!

When nursing in bed works, it's lovely, but when the time has passed, it's awful!

Amen to that! Every night I say I'm going to sleep with dd in her room so I can start nightweaning ds. Every night I end up sleeping in my bed and nursing half the night. He spent 3 nights with my mom and slept through the night there. He slept in bed with my mom and dd. Why can't he do that here?

I wish that I could nurse Bella lying down; I really miss that. BooBah was the easiest nursling ever, and I really got used to having it easy. Those were the days...

Miss "I do it by mysewf!" has been spending lots of time on the toilet lately, all of her own accord. I'm so unbelievably happy about this that I really want to throw her a party. Or maybe I want to throw *me* a party. Not only is BooBah working hard to get out of diapers, but Bella is big enough to wear the medium covers that I have and premium prefolds without looking ridiculous. I still end up putting wool over her covers a lot of the time because her legs are still a bit skinny, but in another month I may not need to do that anymore. I can hardly believe that I'll be putting the infant prefolds away soon!

Another girl that I used to babysit for (now 19) just had a baby; a little boy. I didn't get to meet him today, because I had to get the kids home early for their new bedtime. Apparently his mother is gung-ho to nurse the baby, and they're both doing well; she and her boyfriend are both working and living with their own parents so that they can save money and buy a house. I feel unbelievably old; I changed this little girl's diapers, for crying out loud, and tonight she's changing her baby's diapers. I thought I was a grownup when my best friend had jury duty, but today I feel really, really old... : (I love that smilie!)

Has anyone figured out what happened to Julie? Her name was "mattjule," right? I can't find it in the members list. I suppose I'll try snail mail at this point, unless someone knows what happened....

I fell into the hideous dozing trap again because I could not get up after only two hours of sleep. I did make him go back to sleep on my chest with a bottle, because I could not bear to nurse him. A few hours later when he woke was when the cycle began, but I needed the rest. The only way I got him off me was to tell him we had to make his birthday cake!

: : to James, Flora and Rossignel! I can't believe our babies are turning two. Ds's speech has really taken off the last few weeks. He's saying sentences all the time and he speaks very clearly. So cute!

Liz, as far as I know, nobody has heard from Julie (mattjule). She hasn't posted to the Yahoo group. Seedling seems to be missing as well. Mummoth hasn't been around much either. It seems we're dropping like flies.

I went back into an old thread to look for Julie's posts when I couldn't find her on the members list, and she's now listed as a guest. There's an option in the profile to email her but I did not try it. Maybe we can try emailing directly from the email in the yahoo list? It's sad to see people go.

R is refusing to wear diapers and won't pee in the potty, though she is very fascinated by her poop and pee. I should just let her pee in her clothes/on the floor, right? She's trying to learn about her body, I think. Anyone have good resources to point me to on potty learning? She's very stubborn and I feel like I am doing everything wrong.

DH slept on an air mattress last night because R was telling him to get out of bed the night before and kicking him. We are just stress monkeys around here trying to get his academic year wrapped up and he needs his sleep and we thought this was the fastest way to get him some, but it is not a permanent solution.

I feel so distant from my tantruming, kicking child the last couple weeks. I love independent little children and the fact that she's growing up, but boy do I feel like I am the worst mother ever making every single possible mistake lately.

Oh yeah, and I let her take a three hour nap yesterday which ruined bedtime so she was ubercranky when I woke her up at 7 this morning. Just shoot me now or send over Supernanny, even she might do a better job these days.

I feel so distant from my tantruming, kicking child the last couple weeks. I love independent little children and the fact that she's growing up, but boy do I feel like I am the worst mother ever making every single possible mistake lately.

Oh yeah, and I let her take a three hour nap yesterday which ruined bedtime so she was ubercranky when I woke her up at 7 this morning. Just shoot me now or send over Supernanny, even she might do a better job these days.

: I've got a better idea-- how about you and I trade places for a few days? Kids often respond better to people who aren't their parents, and BeanBean's been a demon today... I felt ridiculously close to trying to stuff him into a FedEx box and shipping him somewhere, just to get him out of my hair. :

So this morning, BooBah went to use the toilet (as she has been doing every morning for the past week, yay BooBah!) but unlike most mornings, she pooped. When she finished, she wiped and flushed and washed her hands... but she only wiped the front! Whoops! Silly BooBah! I didn't notice until a few minutes later, because she sat down in front of me to get her ponytails. When she stood up, there was poop in front of me! : I was feeling better today, though, so I just laughed.

Thanks for the birthday wishes! We "celebrated" yesterday, so today was kind of ordinary. Plenty of cake to finish, though, since dh had to go to Chicago today.

Rowan is 33 lbs and 36 1/2 inches tall today! And he slept until seven am, which makes an amazing difference, that one hour. I do not feel any sense of outrage and just plain rage when he wakes at seven, as opposed to six. :

So, R skipped the nap yesterday but then fell asleep from 5-7:30. We read to her in the dark from 7:30-9 and she fell asleep at 9:30, which is GREAT for us. She slept until 8 am this morning and was a different kid today. I got an hour to myself before she woke up. =) And no screaming! Hooray!

We're on the same page, balancin, because I got Rowan to bed at 8:30 last night, did not hear from him until 2:30 am, and then he slept until 6:30. I feel *much* better and only hope tonight will progress the same way.

I went to bed early for once last night, at around 11:30. When he woke me at 2:30, I assumed it was already morning. That's how tired I am! I was amazed and overjoyed to discover it was only the middle of the night. A drink of water, a hug, and held my hand through the crib bar until he went back to sleep in a few minutes, and I climbed happily back into bed.

An indicator of my exhaustion: I got into bed under both comforters last night, did not turn over once, and when I got up, the bed still looked made.

Two in a row. Shhhhh. No jinxing allowed. And she wanted to be hugged rather than nurse to sleep. WTF? I'm not complaining, but don't know what to think. Please please please let us be getting into a new habit of more sleep.

Liz, hope you had a good night too. I totally know what you mean about being so exhausted you think it must be morning.

Ooh, a tricycle... I bet BooBah would go crazy for one, I'll have to start looking.

Yesterday Mike's parents took the kids to the park, and Mike's mother was shocked and horrified by how quickly BooBah went down the "fwide" (head first and at the bottom almost before poor MIL realized where she'd gone), and by her repeated requests to "Go higher!!" on the "fwings". She's a bit of a daredevil. I was, too, but not until I was much older.

In other news... I started spotting yesterday! It's not a real period, but it's probably a warning period that people are always talking about. I think I'm on my way back to real cycles! Hooray!

Mike got paid on Friday, and bought a bottle of Floravit; in a few days, BeanBean's demonesque streak will have faded into a manageable stubborness. : I'm excited.

ChibiChibi finished school on Thursday; when I saw her yesterday afternoon she said she was eager to begin homeschooling already. : I don't mind, of course, but I'd really like her to have some kind of break in between. She's just eager to get out of my mother's house, poor kid. I've been explaining Miquon mathematics to my mother, and I think I've got her on my page. I didn't think it would be hard, considering that even if you buy the entire series, you spend less money than you would on half a year of Saxon. : I cannot believe that I'm looking forward to this so much... I must have lost my mind.

Hi everyone! Just a few more days until ds's birthday. I just can't believe it! He's really talking a lot and just being super cute and sweet.

I, on the other hand, have a raging case of pink-eye. It hurts so bad, and my eye is so sensitive to light that I've kept the house dark all day. I can't even consider stepping outside into the sunlight. Plus, I have to wear my four-year-old glasses, which I can't see very well with. I really, really want LASIK surgery. Anyway, I had pink-eye as a child and I swear I don't remember it hurting this much. I'm hoping and praying that the kids don't get it.I think I'm going to have to cancel ds's birthday party because I'm afraid that by the end of the week he or dd will have pink-eye. Apparently, the viral type that I have has a incubation period of up to a week, so if the kids do have it, it could be a while before they start showing symptoms. Any been there, done that advice?

I had recurring eye infections for about a year straight when I was in college. I had a nurse tell me to use tearless baby shampoo to wash my eye daily to help, and it did seem to help. Rinse very thouroughly afterward, though!

Re: trikes - Killy got a big wheel for his birthday from my parents (low rider trike with bigger wheels) and he loves it. My parents ended up getting him a helmet, too, because he saw big kids riding their bikes with helmets and really wanted one, too.

Verbal explosion continuing! He chatters all the time! Well, all the time that he isn't deviling his baby sister...

I had eye infections from the middle of 8th grade until the fall of 10th. They sucked, and I had four different kinds of drops and this goopy ointment that I had to use. Nothing seemed to work alone, I was always using two or three different things. All I remember is that it completely sucked, and I felt lucky not to be blind at the end of it.

BeanBean is already calmer after just two days of Floravital, which makes me wonder how I can work it into our budget on a regular basis. The "kid's coffee" doesn't seem to be quite enough for him...

Have any of you seen the healing your gut tribe & signatures? Do you know what they're talking about? I asked the question, but nobody answered me and I have no idea what they mean, nor what their abbreviations mean, but I think it's worth looking into, you know? I'm trying to get better food into all of us this summer, I really want to make an effort at improving our nutrition in general, but without sacrificing other necessities (like electricity and phone service). Thus far, it looks like you have to be extremely wealthy to do this stuff, but if I knew what they were talking about, perhaps I could find a cheaper way?

Have any of you seen the healing your gut tribe & signatures? Do you know what they're talking about? I asked the question, but nobody answered me and I have no idea what they mean, nor what their abbreviations mean, but I think it's worth looking into, you know? I'm trying to get better food into all of us this summer, I really want to make an effort at improving our nutrition in general, but without sacrificing other necessities (like electricity and phone service). Thus far, it looks like you have to be extremely wealthy to do this stuff, but if I knew what they were talking about, perhaps I could find a cheaper way?

Sunday night was not such a good night as we got to bed late and I had a Drs appointment we had to get up for yesterday morning, but last night was pretty good again. I sure hope we are turning a permanent corner.

Now I'm all intrigued by the healing the gut tribe too.

Speaking of nutrition, how are the others doing who were working on weight loss? I'm stalled out right now waiting for my period but it continues to come off sloooooooooowly. My Dr commented positively on it yesterday and that felt good. All my pants are too big and falling down but I don't want to spend a lot of money on clothes. Both not to spend the money and because I hope I'll need yet another size by the end of the summer. I should get the big stuff out of the house though so it is not an option to go back. Maybe a cheap pair of pants/shorts or two? Or just make myself wear the elastic waist-skirts I have every day?